The Butterfly Effect
by Twei
Summary: A small change can have a big difference. This is about how, by a small bit of wasted food, Nanoha finds a new friend without having to blast somebody to bits for once! Am getting rid of the preface eventually, so I'll explain here. Nanoha A's, Episode 3.5, aka Sound Stage 01. The Wolkenritter narrowly avoid dinner at Suzukas. What if they don't and end up with Nanoha and co?
1. Placeholder Preface

A/N: A simple change based on Lyrical Nanoha A's, Sound Stage 01, aka episode 3.5. In this piece, Hayate and the Wolkenritter get invited to Suzuka's house for dinner, but decline as they have their own plans. But what if those plans went awry? What if they did take Suzuka up on that, and found Nanoha and Fate there? I make no promises of quality, of course. This is un-beta'd at the moment.


	2. Chapter 1: What Could Have Been

A/N: I was presented with an interesting challenge for this one: make it work for non-fans as well as fans- my very second submission on this site, at that! While I _shudder_ at the thought of describing everyone's Barrier Jackets, this chapter fortunately has none of that. We'll see how this goes, then.

This chapter 'beta'd ' by a bunch of people!

* * *

_I'm Nanoha Takamachi, and I'm supposed to be an ordinary __third grader. Or rather, I was, but something happened last spring to change that. I became a mage and made friends with some wonderful people.__ Actually, I went to the baths with some of them just a while ago!_

Right now, though, nothing so exciting was happening. The brunette-haired girl was kicking back her legs and doing her homework. The sad reality was that even after such an exciting event, the less interesting parts of life carried on. Even with a part-time mage job, homework couldn't exactly be ignored, and Nanoha had to work hard when she did work so she could have lots of time to play and be with her friends. It didn't hurt that she had a good intuition for maths, at least.

Speaking of her friends, one of them texted her that instant. She blinked, looked at her phone, and smiled.

Suzuka: Hi Nanoha! Arisa and some friends are coming over for dinner tonight, and we were wondering if you could come too!

_Suzuka Tsukimura and Arisa Bannings are both good friends of mine. We met in first grade, and we've been together ever since. They're a wonder to talk to, but I haven't had dinner with them in a while... What an opportunity! I better finish my homework and fast!_

The room descended into a storm of pencils to paper as Nanoha threw herself into her work with reckless abandon. So reckless, in fact, that a certain kind man with dark brown hair and a mildly worried face stepped into her room. That worry was quickly replaced by confusion as he witnessed his daughter tearing away at her work at a speed he had never seen. From anyone.

"Nanoha? You were being a bit loud, so I thought..."

She quickly turned to face him."Oh, I'm fine, dad! I'm just a bit excited, is all. Suzuka invited me to dinner, so I wanted to get my homework finished before then!"

_This is my father, Shiro Takamachi. He owns the Midoriya, a local cafe that's really popular with all sorts of people! He takes really good care of me, and he's still so friendly with my mother, too!_

Shiro blinked. "Nanoha, you should make sure your family is okay with that before you get so excited about it."

He was met with nervous laughter. "Oh, I'm sorry, Dad! It's just been a while since we had dinner together, and I got really excited and totally forgot!"

"Now, now, Nanoha. It's alright. If I can get Kyouya to take you there, then you're good to go. I'm sure he'd like to see Shinobu again, anyways. And while I'm at it, I'll call up your friend Fate and see if she can come along as well, if you want."

Nanoha's face brightened. "Thanks, dad! I'd like that very much!"

Minutes blurred into hours as Nanoha attacked her studies. To her, it seemed like no time at all before she finally closed her textbook and called it done. And not a minute later, a call rang throughout the house.

"Nanoha! Your friends are here!"

"Okay, I'll be right there!"

A few preparations later, most notably putting on her favorite set of pink hair ribbons, and Nanoha headed down to the rest of her family. She found them there in the living room, all in various states of excitement.

A young man who shared his father's hair color was waiting by the door. While his voice sounded a bit mean on the outside, Nanoha could tell that he was kind and a good person like so many other people in the world. "Hurry up, squirt. Don't keep us waiting."

_That's Kyouya Takamachi, my older brother! He's in college right now, _and_ he's a swordsman like Dad used to be. He's really strong and cool!_

"Hmph, you just want to see Shinobu," a similarly-haired, slightly younger woman teased. His glance at her more or less proved her right, not that Nanoha quite knew such things.

_That's my big sister, Miyuki! She's pretty cool, and really good friends with my brother- in fact, she's getting swords lessons from him! She's in the eleventh grade right now._

"Aww, play nice, big brother, big sister," Nanoha pouted, putting smiles back on their faces.

The last unintroduced member of the Takamachi family already had a smile: a lovely woman with vibrant brown hair who seemed to Nanoha as angelic as most mothers do to their children. "It's a shame we can't come with you, Nanoha, but I hope you enjoy yourself!"

_And there's my mom, Momoko Takamachi. She bakes all the food for the Midoriya. She cares about us a lot, and she's very beautiful and really gentle. I love my mother!_

Nanoha smiled and waved her mother and the rest of her family off. "Okay, see you guys later!" she said, as she and Kyouya advanced and slid the door open to find...

"Hi Fate, hi Chrono!"

"Hello, Nanoha."

The girl who answered with a cute smile on her face seemed a small thing, a pale flower in the dimming light. She had beautiful red eyes and a fine set of blonde hair. But although she looked fragile now, Nanoha knew she was anything but.

_This is Fate Testarossa, my very best friend! We met last spring, and although we started out fighting, we're all better now and we've really gotten close. Especially since now, she's living in the neighborhood and going to school with us. I'm really excited for this!_

"H-hello."

The dark-haired boy who stood next to her, a bit older than Nanoha and Fate but not nearly as old as Kyouya, certainly seemed distinctly uncomfortable. Even though his clothes were still dark like his uniform, the casual situation seemed to be one he had trouble dealing with, and his posture was far too rigid for someone who should be at ease.

_And that's Chrono Harlaown. He's an enforcer of the Time-Space Administration Bureau- the people who I have a part-time job with, whose goal it is to keep the universe safe! He has a scary uniform and he puts on a serious face, but he's real nice once you break his shell. I wonder what he's doing here?_

The fact that Kyouya did not recognize him did nothing for Chrono's stress right now. Nanoha's brother was eying the boy with suspicion. "Who's this?"

"Chrono's a mutual friend of ours. Chrono, this is Kyouya, my big brother!"

"It's n-nice to meet you, s-sir," Chrono said, perhaps a bit weakly.

"Hmph. Well, if you're a friend of Nanoha, you must be alright." Chrono had a chance to relax. "But if you mess with her..."

And there was his stress again. The world was cruel to poor Chrono.

"Well then, shall we go?"

"Yeah!"

* * *

A little while earlier...

_I'm Hayate Yagami. I used to be an ordinary third grader. Well, mostly ordinary. I suppose my paralysis isn't ordinary...Anyways, on my birthday, I became the master of the Book of Darkness! I didn't even know magic was real, but these people are more than real enough! They're my knights, guardians of the master of the Book, but to me they're more like my beloved family. But right now, we have...a bit of a problem..._

"Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh?!" she squeaked. Were she not in a wheelchair and surrounded by characters straight out of an anime (oh, wait...), Hayate Yagami would not have looked much out of the ordinary. A typical, happy schoolgirl living a happy life. She had bright blue eyes, and though her brown hair was not as vibrant as that of our other heroine, her choice of hair decorations- a pair of bands, one in yellow and one in red, on the left side- was certainly more lively, not that either of them knew about the others' accessories yet.

At the moment, however, she was staring in shock at a large container, her knights all crowded around and equally dismayed. (Except for Zafira. He was still in a corner.)

"Our dinner..."

"It's...!"

"Ruined."

Indeed. What had once been food was now totally unrecognizable. Somehow, while they weren't looking, the meal Hayate had worked so hard on making had been utterly trashed. It could not be considered food anymore.

_Ahem! Let me introduce these three in the order they spoke. (And Zafira.)_

First, a girl who could have passed for a year or two younger than Hayate, with blue eyes and a head full of red hair braided into a set of pigtails. Of the group, her reaction was certainly the closest to 'anger', and she seemed on the verge of tears.

_That's Vita. She might not look it, but she's really strong for someone so small! Plus, she's so cute and brash and stubborn, like a tsundere right out of a manga. All in all, she's a pretty wonderful person to be around._

Next, a woman with a gentler air about her and a sad expression that did not really suit her. She was a blonde against the sea of (relatively) dark hair, and her eyes were brown, of all things. She was already moving to envelop Hayate in a gentle hug, even through the wheelchair.

_This is Shamal. She's so kind and pretty and acts so much like a mother to me and the Wolkenritter! Although her cooking skills could use some work, she does just fine with the groceries. She's a healer, and really good at it, too._

Lastly, the woman who even in casual clothes seemed to fit the name of the Wolkenritter (literally Cloud Knights in German, or Ancient Belkan- the two were suspiciously similar). Her hair was a brilliant pink, a ribbon pulling part of it into a long ponytail that trailed loosely down her back. Her eyes were green and her face was best described as stern, as it almost always was.

_And this is Signum, possibly the leader of the Wolkenritter! As you can see, she's always calm and serious and acts very much like a 'knight' in all sorts of ways. In spite of that, though, she's as close to me as the rest of them._

Oh..wait, there was someone Hayate forgot, although initial impressions would not suggest him to be 'someone'. A largely blue-furred wolf in the corner with a brilliant mane of white and a coat around his paws of the same color. That was Zafira. Even when he went into human form, he didn't talk much.

Anyways, this was a matter for talking. Or a matter for Hayate to put her head into her hands and sigh as she mourned the loss of her precious food.

"How did this happen?"

Vita had other ideas.

"Whoever did this, I'll find them and I'll-"

"Please calm down, Vita-chan." Shamal completely failed to calm Vita down despite her best efforts.

Meanwhile, their leader had a more practical take on the subject, a take definitely directed at one Hayate Yagami.

"How it happened is unimportant right now. We can ask such questions after we make a new plan."

Hayate brought her head up, looking at Signum as Shamal and Vita continued to argue in the background. A new plan, huh? There were things she could make quickly enough, but nothing that could match the feast they had lost. They couldn't really eat at a restaurant: the money wasn't quite there. If only there was another way... oh...wait.

"Excuse me, everyone. Is it okay if we go to Suzuka's house for dinner?"

All eyes turned to Hayate. Each of them considered that idea in their own minds. All of them were nervous, of course, seeing as they rarely had dinner out, especially on such short notice. Vita and Shamal were both excited at the prospect of getting friendly, whereas Signum was concerned about what might happen going in. Who knew who might be there?

Zafira quietly stated his own mind. "I will be fine, whatever you decide."

"Classic Zafira right there," Vita commented. The wolf declined to respond, but the look on his face made it obvious he did not approve. "Anyways, I dunno. Noel's cooking _is_ pretty good. Not as good as Hayate's, of course, but good enough for me."

Shamal just smiled. "I hear she did invite us. We should at least call them up and see if it's an option. Shame we have to impose on them so soon."

Signum frowned. "Master Hayate, I would also suggest confirming whether this 'dinner at Suzuka's' plan could happen before becoming too attached to it. Shall I call them now?"

"It's fine, it's fine. I'll do it. Where's the phone?"

Several moments of bringing the phone to Hayate and/or Hayate to the phone later...

"Hello, this is Hayate Yagami. Yes, well, is Suzuka there? Oh, good...Hello Suzuka, hello Noel. So... Remember that offer you gave us earlier? Well... Our dinner met an unfortunate end, and we were wondering if maybe we could...er, have dinner with you tonight?...Really? Are you sure? Thank you! I have to make sure everyone is okay with it first, though..."

Vita and Shamal raised their hands. Signum's assent was notably absent. Hayate attempted to fix that by speaking with her telepathically.

[Why not, Signum? It'd be good to make more friends, and besides, the Tsukimuras are giving us this, it'd be a shame to let it go to waste. ]

[I already went out once today. It was not a pleasant experience.]

[Do you have any other plans for dinner?]

After a few moments of silence, Signum's hand went up. Well, that was easy. Shockingly easy, in fact.

"Okay, looks like everyone's good with it! Alright, let's do it! ...ahuh.. yeah. Ahuh. See you there!"

* * *

Nanoha finally asked a question that had been bugging her since she left the house.

[Chrono-kun, what are you doing here anyways? You don't usually come along on social events.]

[Since your devices are under repair, I'm here to make sure you're well guarded. Also... mother said I should get out more...whatever that means.]

Fate answered that question for him. [It means you need to meet people and talk to them, I think.]

[Ehehe. Fate-chan's right.]

Chrono just seemed embarrassed. He was given mercy by their arrival at the Tsukimura mansion.

'Mansion' was certainly one way to describe it. Actually... It was probably the best way to describe it. Built in classic Victorian style, the structure before them had enough windows that it certainly looked the part of a wealthy home, sometimes making Arisa, who also happened to come from wealth, very jealous indeed. Chrono might have been a bit intimidated by this... if he didn't see more impressive things all the time.

Oh yeah, Kyouya was still there too. He was not privy to their conversation, though he did sense that something was odd with them, but he kept those ideas to himself. More importantly, he rather obviously nudged them along.

"Well, what are we waiting for? We gonna go in or what?"

"...oh. Yeah. Sorry."

The sheepish trio (and annoyed big brother) finally advanced to the grand double doors and rang the doorbell. Somewhat to their surprise, they were greeted by not one but two blue-haired maids, the older one practically at mothering age herself and the younger one a few years ahead of Nanoha by the looks of it.

"Lord Kyouya, Lady Nanoha, Lady Fate, and Lord..."

"Chrono."

Fate added by way of explanation: "He's a friend."

"Chrono. It's good to see you again, and for the first time as well."

"Hi Noel!" Nanoha put in.  
While the older one spoke, the younger one just smiled, particularly at Nanoha.

"You're all welcome tonight, so come on in and make yourselves at home! Arisa and Suzuka are already at the table, and I hear our other guests will be arriving shortly."

"Thanks, Faline."

_These are the Tsukimura family maids. The older one is Noel. She doesn't talk a huge amount, but she's really cool and pretty. She reminds me of my own mother, __actually!__ And the younger one is her little sister Faline- say it with me, Fah-leen. She's rather clumsy, to be honest! But she's still nice._ _Oh, and about the hair..._

Arisa occasionally joked that the Tsukimuras had blue hair due to being vampires. In reality, it was nothing so fantastic as that. Rather, it was a simple, relatively harmless genetic mutation. They had traced the history of that color back to the 1400's, but some sources suggested that the blue hair had been passed down through the Tsukimura family line for generations beforehand. Fate in particular found it all quite interesting, perhaps because of her own exotic heritage.

While Nanoha was expositing, she mindlessly walked forward into the grand hall of the Tsukimura. If she had been paying attention, she might have had a chance to renew her wonder at all the splendor on display around her. But she was not paying attention. Her friends, unfortunately, were not as likely to be amazed to begin with, two of them having done this before and one of them having seen similar things back on Mid. And while Fate still had a sense of wonder, nothing amazed Kyouya anymore. It was doubtful that even a sudden reveal that magic was a thing and his little sister wielded it would have so much as made him falter.

Wait a minute. Nanoha... yes, Nanoha almost walked into the wall there. Only the timely intervention of Kyouya saved her from her own daydreams, much to her embarrassment.

"You should really watch where you're going, squirt."

"Ehehehe... A-ah, sorry brother."

"Come on, let's get going."

Several moments of walking and one dramatic door opening later...

Arisa and Suzuka were already there at one of the longest dinner tables Nanoha had ever seen. With Arisa's bright orange hair and colorful personality contrasted against Suzuka's subdued blue and gentle demeanor, the two made for an interesting couple of friends. Both of them greeted Nanoha and co with a smile.

"Hi Nanoha!" "Hi Fate!"

"Hi Arisa! Hi Suzuka!"

"Hello..."

Meanwhile, Chrono was awkwardly silent. Kyouya, on the other hand, seemed a bit concerned. "...is Shinobu not here today?"

"She had to go out for something," Suzuka answered him. He frowned and made a note to ask her about that later.

True to form, the pre-dinner conversation quickly devolved into talking about a wide variety of nothing, with Nanoha, Arisa and Suzuka forming the bulk of the chatterboxes. Fate and Kyouya occasionally put in their two cents as well, the former with a shy air and the latter just grumpy at being denied his girlfriend. Chrono did his best to pretend he was on a mission or asleep or something.

And thus, the drama entirely sneaked up on them. The doorbell rang in the distance, but only Kyouya and Chrono paid it any heed. None of the others were prepared for when the door opened and Hayate and her family came in.

"Oh, hello Hayate! It's nice to see you!" was all Suzuka managed to get in before the tension choked the room into sudden, uncomfortable silence. The Wolkenritter were as shocked by seeing Nanoha and co as Nanoha and co were shocked by seeing the Wolkenritter- among them, only Signum and Chrono managed to avoid dropping their jaws to some extent or another, and Vita seemed like she was going to need help picking hers up off the floor. Needless to say, Arisa, Suzuka and Hayate were incredibly confused as to why everyone was staring at each other all of a sudden. On the other hand, Kyouya didn't know exactly why, but he could definitely sense the tension in the air... he looked prepared to do something drastic.

But it was obvious enough to Nanoha, Fate and Chrono. They may have been in casual clothes, but there was no doubt about it: the people who had wheeled that cute girl their age into the room were the same Wolkenritter that had drained Nanoha's magic, injured Fate, and put both of their Devices in critical condition. If it weren't for Nanoha and Fate being unarmed right now, Chrono probably would have put them under arrest by order of the Time-Space Administration Bureau that instant and explained what he could to the others later.

Hayate looked around and sputtered. "U-um...W-w-why are you all looking like that? D-do you guys know each other?"

The part of shouter of overly loud "NO!" was played by Vita and Nanoha. The Wolkenritter could hardly admit to what they had been doing behind Hayate's back, even if it was for her sake. And Nanoha could hardly just talk about magic here and now, could she?

Kyouya seemed even more on edge. The tension in the air was so thick Faline could trip over it. Which she did, having just arrived bearing appetizers. The sheer strangeness of the scene before her made her stumble before she could even announce her presence, and she fell forwards rather precariously.

Thankfully, that broke the spell, as Arisa and Suzuka rushed to save her from her impending faceplant, and...even managed to save the appetizers along the way. It gave Nanoha time to attempt to rescue their image, directing her telepathy toward the Wolkenritter as well as her allies.

[Can everyone hear me? I know we fought and all, but we're making a scene here. If everyone could at least act moderately friendly for now, please? I mean, we're not going to fight here, we might as well talk about this...]

Unfortunately for them, she was right. Nanoha could practically _hear_ Vita going 'hmph!' and shaking her head through her response.

[This is only a temporary truce, you got that?! Next time it's serious.]

[U-uh, right...]

[That's not true...]

[eh?]

Mental eyes – and quite a few normal ones – turned to the Fate who had suddenly 'spoken up'.

[People fight because they don't understand each other. If you talk it out, you'll find you may not have to fight for what you want after all. I should know...If we don't know what you want, we can't help you.]

[Well said, Fate!]

"Ahem, is everyone done being creepy?" Kyouya asked, clearly irritated at the strange changes on everyone's faces.

And thus the great circus began as people who just fought each other to the point of hospitalization tried to have a friendly dinner with each other.

* * *

A/N to all the two people who have reviewed as of this update: thanks to both of you! Sorry for the wait. Writing this took a lot more than I'd thought it take, and I'm still not sure I'm happy with the latter half. Regardless, seeing people read and appreciate it might just make it worth it, especially if I somehow manage to become semi-popular. So as to build hype, I'll give you a teaser of next chapter's title: Discussion Enforced by Starlight Breaker! ...It reveals absolutely nothing. I tried, though.


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: Whew, writing that first chapter was tough! Fanfic is more taxing than I'd thought it be, but the satisfaction of posting it and seeing people read it might just be worth it in the end. Anyways, here goes another one! Wish me luck.

* * *

**Chapter 2: Discussion Enforced by Starlight Breaker**

Just because Fate made a speech neatly summing up one of the main ideas of the Nanoha universe did not mean that they became instant friends. And unfortunately, the Wolkenritter and the others still had to eat dinner together.

To be honest, most of them were abysmal at pretending to be friendly. All in all, the sheer farce was impressive. This comedy had at least two players for each role: Nanoha and Shamal, smiling awkwardly and trying to be friendly. Vita and Chrono, barely hiding their glares and anger. Signum and Fate, calm and stern. Suzuka and Hayate, very confused. Arisa and Kyouya, grumpy at being so clearly out of the loop. Noel and Faline more or less did their best to serve the food and stay out of the conflict.

Even the vibrance of Arisa couldn't liven up this meaningless small talk. The thing that brought the table to some semblance of ease turned out to be Nanoha reaching out to Hayate telepathically. Before, she had been kept out of the loop of the mental discussions that had gone on.

[Um...Hayate?]

[...y-yes? Nanoha?]

[Yeah. You're the master of the Book of Darkness, right?]

Hayate gulped out loud, further annoying Kyouya. The dinner would have hushed again if Signum and Fate hadn't started talking. It was a good thing they did. If they hadn't, Kyouya might have broken the table.

[Ah...yes, I suppose I a-am. I d-don't mean any harm! Please-]

[ :) Now now, Hayate-chan. I'm sure you didn't. We just had a little scuffle with your knights earlier, and, well...]

Chrono took this time to add his two cents. [They were draining people of magic to finish the Book of Darkness. If you cooperate, the charges against you and them will be lessened, I'm sure.]

[They...were doing that? ...Signum, is this true?]

[...It's true. Your... condition is actually an effect of the Book of Darkness leeching off of your energy. We thought if we finished it, then maybe you would-]

The black-clothed Enforcer's mental shake of his head resounded through the chamber. He had a personal part in this...though most of those around him did not know it.[ No. Finishing the Book of Darkness never results in anything good. I doubt it'd help Hayate.]

Hayate and her Wolkenritter seemed to respond with a combined [Is that so...] Hayate would have scolded them for troubling other people with her problems, of course, but the revelation as to the cause of her paralysis was a more disturbing thought.

Chrono started thinking, something he did not always do that much. The troublesome thing about the Book of Darkness was how it ended. It gathered up magical energy from people, turning it into pages. When it reached page 666, the book would activate, usually with enormously destructive results. Afterward, it would vanish and find a new master, starting the process anew. Similarly, destroying it would regenerate it elsewhere. The Book of Darkness was a Lost Logia that kept on being dangerous no matter what had been done in the past. But...

The activation hadn't yet occurred, and the Master seemed to bear no ill intentions. An idea came to his mind on how maybe, just maybe, he could put the scourge that killed his father to rest.

[Hayate Yagami.]

[Yes?]

The boy smiled.

[If you cooperate with the Time-Space Administration Bureau, we can examine the Book of Darkness more closely. It may be possible to modify it to seal off its more dangerous abilities. At the very least, if nothing else we can store it somewhere safe where it cannot harm anyone. If your paralysis is indeed because of its influence, that should help you recover, too. I... have a personal connection to this book. It caused the death of my own father, not so long ago. I don't want it to harm anyone else, not even you.]

Hayate frowned, thinking over this proposal.

[… As long as me and my family can live together, I don't mind what you do. I don't want anyone to get hurt either. So... I guess I'm under arrest, huh?]

[I prefer ' taken into custody'.]

And then, Hayate smiled. With that, the ice that had been chilling the dinner shattered and melted away. Even if the Wolkenritter didn't completely trust Chrono, they agreed with him that sealing the book securely would keep it from hurting Hayate, and as their master, they only naturally put her safety and happiness first.

Thus, with a single arrest, they were on the path to being friends.

* * *

In related news, a certain big brother was determined to get to the bottom of this.

Kyouya Takamachi had already been down once he heard that Shinobu was out. The onslaught of bizarre that the dinner had brought did not help. The way everyone had acted was completely inexplicable, and they all seemed to know it. They all made excuses for why people who'd never met before seemingly had a silent conversation with each other, but it was to no avail. He didn't consider himself superstitious, but the incident struck him as almost paranormal in nature. It didn't help that one of the perpetrators was his own younger sister, who was a rather terrible actor. Arisa, Suzuka and the maids tried to brush it off, but they all would have agreed with his assessment: something was going on. Still, if it was big enough to hide from him in the first place, just asking really would-

Wait, hold on. Arisa and Suzuka and the maids were probably interested too, right?

A plan formed in his mind...

* * *

Despite their slight improvement in acting, making real friendships between the two groups of mages was still no easy feat. The Yagamis really had no particular reason to trust Nanoha and friends, as Vita said (clearly annoyed to be talking to her former opponent). The one thing that definitely bound them together was a common interest- neutralizing the Book of Darkness. Nanoha's general insistence that everyone really _could_ get along helped, but without so much as Raising Heart there was only so much she could do. She wasn't quite used to making friends peacefully.

However, she had and quickly deployed a secret weapon: the story of how she became friends with Fate. Since Nanoha enjoys narrating, it went a little like this...

* * *

A few months ago, Nanoha had heard a distress call from one Yuuno Scyra. Yuuno, a young archaeologist, had uncovered powerful magic relics he called Jewel Seeds, and was sending them back when the transport vessel had an accident, scattering the relics across Earth. He took it upon himself to recover them, but the task soon proved too great for him, and only the timely intervention of a confused third grader saved him from what might well have been death.

After a crash course in magic, Nanoha got to work on recovering the Jewel Seeds, only to find herself fighting one Fate Tessterosa for them. At first, they didn't exactly talk much, but Nanoha liked Fate, and made a concerted effort to talk to her, battle after battle. Those battles brought her into contact with Chrono and the rest of the Bureau people, and eventually... well, one need only look at the way Fate leaned on Nanoha from time to time to see how it worked.

* * *

[So what you're saying is we should beat each other up until we become friends?]

Nanoha hadn't really expected that from Vita. Or anyone, for that matter. That was not _quite_ what she had intended her secret weapon to accomplish. That said, she relished the thought of training, whether she consciously understood that or not.

She let out a nervous mental giggle. [Er...maybe?]

[Awesome!]

...okay, _that_ she was a bit more prepared for. She'd take that as success, for now.

While everyone was off in their own private conversations, the dinner eventually came to a close, along with the more or less meaningless public conversations. After a few more words of thanks, the various parties all went their separate ways... or so one might have imagined, but in reality the Yagamis and Nanofate – plus Chrono – all left together.

...or so one might have imagined, except as they went to leave the mansion with happy faces and a promise to meet each other again soon and begin working on the paperwork and all that, they were blocked by Kyouya, Arisa, Suzuka, Noel and Faline, all with rather stern expressions.

"We need to talk," Kyouya began.

"Ehhhhhhh?" Nanoha utterly failed to hide her nervousness.

Arisa was next to accuse them, trademark fire in her eyes."You're obviously hiding something from us! Something big!"

"So it has come to this," Chrono muttered.

Hayate frowned. [You people are _horrible_ at acting. I'm surprised we went on this long without them having enough of it!]

[I'm surprised we managed to fool _you_ this long, to be honest.]

Hayate shut up at Vita's mental retort.

"Were I superstitious, I might think you were having a telepathic conversation, but your initial shock and awkwardness suggested that you were strangers or even enemies," Noel murmured. The 'mother' of the Tsukimura household was quiet, but calm and forceful. Nanoha wondered if Fate would talk like that when she grew up.

Many people scratched their heads, smiled sheepishly, and tried to excuse themselves. The chorus of "Yeah...a-about that.." was completely unintelligible.

Suzuka just seemed... hurt. Nanoha knew that face. "N-nano...ha..."

...Faline declined to comment.

The expressions on everyone's faces all pointed to various levels of 'busted.' None of them were used to revealing the existence of magic to others, but it was obvious what was about to happen.

Shamal took the initiative. "Well... first, magic exists."

They all (even Hayate) made shows of their magic, little balls of energy or small magic circles around their feet. Their audience stood silent and transfixed.

While the mages had attention, they decided to explain everything. Nanoha explained the basics of her own experiences with magic, from when she met Yuuno to how she finally befriended Fate. Fate corroborated her story. Chrono explained the interstellar nature of the Time-Space Administration Bureau, as well as some of their policies and how they would handle Earth as far as he knew, which basically boiled down to "They're watching us and are prepared to step in for disaster relief, but otherwise aren't terribly interested" The Wolkenritter explained themselves, their relationship with Hayate, and their own recent actions which were about to put them on trial. And provided several apologies for not telling anyone.

It took a few minutes to sink in. The mages were more than willing to give their audience a few minutes.

Arisa and Kyouya were angry at having not heard about this from their friend and family, respectively... But they were also intrigued. Suzuka, on the other hand, was struck silent even longer, and Faline looked ready to faint. Only Noel took it in stride, a small smile crossing her face. Not only was she delighted to learn – being a maid taught you to soak up every bit of information and chatter like a sponge – but she figured that if she could learn this magic, perhaps it would let her do her job a bit better.

"...So now that you've told us this, what do we do?" Arisa finally asked.

"Well.. First, you don't go telling everyone. As a matter of fact, you're not supposed to tell anyone. Though with our current track record of keeping secrecy..." Chrono shuddered. "... it's probably alright for you to tell the rest of your families. They'd find out soon enough anyways."

"Okay. So we know where Nanoha's really been off to. What else? Do we get to do magic stuff?"

Chrono shrugged.

"Who knows? Most people here on... Earth are unaware of magic entirely, but as we saw from your friend Nanoha here, it seems there are at least a few who take well to it for whatever reason. While I don't have the equipment or knowledge to examine your Linker Cores or otherwise look at your potential, I'd imagine that if you set your minds to it at least one of you would most likely prove themselves a decent mage.

Aside from that? Not a whole lot changes unless you want it to. You can continue your lives here, or you can enter the worlds of the TSAB. Either way, so long as you agree to basic secrecy, I don't think you have many obligations otherwise, though we'll have to check with some...superior officers first."

The quintet took it in again. So their lives didn't have to change too much. But they could. Okay, not bad. Kyouya wasn't sure he wanted to get involved with this, yet was torn with his devotion to his sister, while Arisa was in the 'So coool!' category and Suzuka and Faline seemed neutral at most. There was one person who was most definitely interested in a substantial way.

"When can we see these superior officers?"

"Noel?" Suzuka asked, obviously surprised.

The head maid smiled a bit, bowing her head.

"Serving you is an enjoyable experience, but no one wants such a position for life. You're quickly growing up, Suzuka. So is Faline. One day, you won't need me. I'll be happy to continue living with you, but I wish to obtain a job of my own, lady Suzuka. You could say I'm a bit sheltered myself, and I want to change that. This may be my chance."

Suzuka promptly glomped Noel, much to the latter's amusement, and making everyone around them smile.

"Aww, you're all grown up," the little girl teased.

"You flatter me, lady Suzuka. I have to grow up some day."

The group chattered into the night. How could they not? There was so much to talk about.

* * *

The next few days went by without too much incident. While the Tsukimura's took it upon themselves to educate Shinobu of what had happened, the Takamachis similarly learned of the magical reality of Nanoha rather quickly. And possibly a bit too dramatically...

...Nanoha had to drag Miyuki to the couch, for she had fainted when she demonstrated her Barrier Jacket. Her parents handled it a bit better, namely by hugging her tightly once Nanoha was done. They were simply happy to know what their child had been up to, no matter how exotic or dangerous that stuff seemed to be. In the end, Nanoha was content.

Meanwhile, Chrono and Admiral Lindy – more on her courtesy of Nanoha Takamachi in a bit – were busy filing paperwork and preparing for an honest talk with members of all of the families. They wanted to knock it all out in one shot – the charges and arrests for the Yagami's, the various oaths of secrecy that needed to be taken, all of it.

Honestly, it was quite an audacious plan, but it was also the most efficient way to get everything on track. It would, however, require still more exposition and long-winded discussion. At least it would only have to happen this once. Right? Riiight.

The Yagamis just prepared to face trial for the attacks they'd done. It was lucky that they stopped this early – their sentence would be lighter that way, and they would be able to be with Hayate more quickly and more often. Hayate herself was not entirely free, but seeing as she knew little to nothing about the contraband nature of the Book of Darkness and the dangerous activities her knights had been up to, it was very doubtful she'd receive much punishment, if any.

And thus it was that a week later, they all met in what was now Fate's house – the place where the Time-Space Administration Bureau had set up shop to conduct the investigation into the Book of Darkness.

* * *

They could barely fit everyone into one room. The impromptu base was roomy, sure, but it was not exactly built for such a large gathering. Just going over the named characters...

The entire Tsukimura and Takamachi families were there. The former now included Shinobu, Suzuka's older sister who had been absent at the dinner last week. She sat suspiciously close to Kyouya – it was no secret the two were more or less a couple and had been for a while. The Takamachis, on the other hand, had already had this talk before, albeit censored of magic.

Arisa was there, of course, albeit without her family – they didn't ask too much about her personal life, and she didn't really feel like telling them. Secrets were supposed to be kept here.

Fate was there, and it was only natural that Chrono was there.

And then there was the star of a show – a well-dressed, green-haired woman. Admiral Lindy Harlaown. Chrono's mother and commanding officer. A kind, empathetic, but somewhat strict woman who had treated Nanoha and Fate well in their time serving with her.

A small army of bureaucrats was also in attendance to help fill out the mountains of paperwork, but they weren't so important.

"Well then. Now that everyone is here, shall we begin?"

Nods went around.

"I understand that you all have the basic idea of what's going on here from one source or another."

Another round of nods.

"Good. Since we're up to speed, this should be quick. Most of this is just a formality, but that said, I am interested to see who here is interested in our society and who would like to remain more...earth bound?"

"...That's a good word for it. Anyways, please do continue~"

* * *

Perhaps for the sake of simplicity, or maybe for more obvious reasons, most of the attendants did not want to leave the world they knew. They had friends and family and no matter how wondrous this new reality sounded, they weren't going off to explore it and leaving their relations behind.

Still, all of them were interested in learning at least the basics of magic. Arisa and Suzuka in particular wanted to study the TSAB and its culture a bit more. Nanoha had grown a bit distant recently, and now that they knew why, they hoped that sharing in her magical knowledge might bring them closer again. Shinobu, Kyouya and Miyuki were curious what magic could add to their sparring, but that was about it for now. The Takamachi parents were happy with their current lives and occupation and didn't feel the need to shake things up.

Only Noel was really considering signing up for Bureau service, perhaps as a part-time mage if she found herself capable enough. The head maid felt old, even though she wasn't really that old. Above all, she wished silently for something new, and with Suzuka's consent...well, she didn't show too much emotion, but she was delighted at what the future might hold. Whatever she would end up doing, it would be completely different from what she had done before.

When all was said and done...

"...Whew. Well, that's some paperwork we can never look at again."

"Admiral, if I may... the paperwork is endless. It just goes with the job."

"...That was low, Amy, using my words against me!"

Chuckles went around as Lindy chatted with a subordinate. That finally made them realize that the hours-long ordeal was over.

The crowd dispersed in record time.

* * *

A/N: I thiiink I bit off a bit more than I can chew with talking about all of the side characters, and I haven't even mentioned Arf at all! So I'm most certainly pulling back on this. Even though everyone knows about magic now, they won't get too involved in Nanoha's adventures. Except for Noel. Why Noel? Because rule of cool. Noel is kind of awesome and also seems the most plausible candidate for magery out of the various supporting characters on Earth. I _could_ conceivably have Shinobu and Kyouya be a Battle Couple at some point, but...

_ spare meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

Let's not even get into that I don't really know where to go from here...

good writing is hard. Even decent writing is hard.


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